Has there ever been a more generous ingredient than the bean Down-home, yet ihautei, soul-satisfyingly hearty, valued, versatile deeply delectable, healthful, and inexpensive to boot, there's nothing a bean can't do--and nothing that Crescent Dragonwagon can't do with beans. From old friends like chickpeas and pintos to rediscovered heirloom beans like rattlesnake beans and teparies, from green beans and fresh shell beans to peanuts, lentils, and peas, iBean by Beani is the definitive cookbook on beans. It's a 175-plus recipe cornucopia overflowing with information, kitchen wisdom, lore, anecdotes, and a zest for good food and good times.br br Consider the lentil, to take one example. Discover it first in a delicious slather, Lentil Tapenade. Then in half a dozen soups, including Sahadi's Lebanese Lentil Soup with Spinach, Kerala-Style Dahl, and Crescent's Very, Very Best Lentil, Mushroom Barley Soup. It then turns up in Marinated Lentils De Puy with Greens, Baked Beets, Oranges Waln